The first thing that struck Olivia was the size of the property. She was vaguely aware that they had a good deal of land, Fitz make a joke about buying a riding lawn mower, but now looking at it, she realized, she couldn't see the dock from the front of the house, it could have been the dark, but she strongly suspected it was the distance. Holding tight to Fitz's hand she finally looked at the house itself.
It was a beautiful and unique blend of brick and stone, blending into massive windows, that she knew from pictures extended to the front and back of the house. In the back of her mind she wondered how to keep them clean, but the thought was quickly erased when she thought about the view of the property and dock from the kitchen and den.
There was a massive garage, six cars, with a patio on top of it, she could see the faint outline of a swing and what she suspected was a hammock, there were Christmas lights hanging from the umbrella and a fire lit in the fire pit. She loved that touch of the house, especially when Fitz told her it reminded him of his childhood home. Normally when he said something reminded him of his childhood he had a haunted distant look in his eyes, but this time his eyes were alive and bright as he recounted spending time on the rooftop patio, finding his own solitude.
Beyond the garage she could see the guesthouse, a miniature version of the main house, which had three bedrooms itself. She already imaged herself, Cammie, and Scarlett having fun decorating it. Cammie being the art student she was had some pretty cool ideas, Olivia wasn't keen on trying in the main house, but thought would be great for the guesthouse.
She was brought out of her revere when Fitz let go of her hand and she immediately whipped her head around to see why. He was holding up keys two sets, one had a silver star and the other had a black star, he handed her the set with the silver and she turned it over in her hands noticing that there were numbers on the back and front of the metal.
"What are they?" She asked confused, but excited to be holding the keys to their home.
"On this side are the coordinates to the house, you know kind of a return if found, and on the other side are the coordinates to where we met, where this all started, where I met this feisty incredibly brilliant and beautiful woman that changed my life irreparably. I wanted the keys to our home to mean something, well something extra, I wanted them to be us coming full circle, no one runs because we know exactly where we belong, because it says it right here." He gestured to his own key with the same coordinates.
She stroked the keys in her hand,
"No one runs, I know exactly where I belong, where we belong, I love you some much." She used her free hand to stroke his face in awe of the man before her, the depth of his love for her always shocking her in its ability to match her love for him.
"Plus this is the closest thing to a ring I could give you without pissing you off, so, key ring."
"You sure know how to kill a moment," she said with an eye roll. "So key ring, instead of an engagement ring?"
"Both would come from Tiffany's anyways." He smiled sheepishly at her question.
"You are such a dork."
"I'm your dork and I'm a dork that is still waiting for you to open up the front door so I can take you in the foyer." He told her without a hint of shame or embarrassment, she grabbed his hand once again and nearly ran into the house.
After thoroughly enjoying each other in the entranceway of the house, Fitz was laying with his head on Olivia's stomach as she had one arms wrapped around his shoulders the other absently playing with his hair. Reluctantly he left Olivia's arms to turn on the lights so that Olivia could see the first floor. She pulled on his shirt and tossed him his boxers as she took in the first floor.
It was almost completely open, with high ceilings. Off to the left was an oversized dining room they still needed to buy furniture for, from there you could see the hallway leading to the massive kitchen, off the kitchen was a breakfast nook, right in front of floor to ceiling windows and a view of the water, that led to part of the patio.
As Olivia wandered around in awe of how perfect the house was, Fitz followed her never taking his eyes off of her. It was everything she had described and Fitz had found it for her. He made sure that everything that they wanted to build together was there at their fingertips. Every minute detail from the granite kitchen countertops, to the breakfast nook. She couldn't wait until the three of them were gathered around it. In her mind she could see Scarlett doing homework and telling them about her day while she made dinner. Outside the window was a beautiful deck with a fire pit, she imagined her and Fitz curled up together maybe reading, but most likely ignoring their books and getting lost in each other.
"Can we look upstairs?" Olivia asked with childlike wonder that Fitz had never heard from her before.
"Its your house Livvie, our house, we can go wherever you want." Fitz told her seriously, wanting the idea to sink in.
With a face splitting grin Olivia grabbed the band of his boxers and pulled him towards the stairs, both laughing hysterically. The stairs were hidden somewhat towards the back of the house, Olivia loved that they weren't a main focal point of the house, that they didn't smack you in the face when you walked in the door.
"Take me to the library." She turned and said to him when they finally made it upstairs. Fitz had his arms wrapped around her from behind and was nuzzling her neck. Without pulled away he gave her a gentle push from behind in the right direction.
Olivia gasped when she walked into the room and saw how completely unlike a traditional in home library it was. The bookcases were built into the walls, but the walls were white except for cursive writing flowing across the walls. Instead of a large desk in the middle of the room, there was an oversized couch already covered with funky pillows and blankets in soft neutral colors. The back wall that faced the yard was entirely glass so that you had a perfect view of the water, or you would once it was daytime.
"You did this…" Olivia was speechless. She knew this room didn't come this way, she had poured over pictures and never saw anything like this in any of them.
"The bones of the house were perfect, but it was missing some Olivia Pope touches, I just made the rest better. I couldn't imagine you comfortable or relaxed in some dark room with hard edges. I knew how excited you were for a library so I tried to make it more you. We can paint over the walls if you think they're creepy. Cammie did it over Thanksgiving with me, but we can fix it, she won't mind, she said it looked like a horror movie."
Standing in the middle of the room Olivia heard him rambling on, nervous whether she would like it or not. She nearly ran to him slamming into him within a few steps and wrapped him in her arms. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his holding his face firmly in her hands, giving him the best answer she possible could. It was everything, it looked like something out of one of the pictures in an architecture magazine, but better, because he did it himself, for her.
When she finally pulled away breathless she asked,
"What does it all say?"
"They're quotes from all your favorite books or poems, even a few movies, well Stuck in Love." She wandered over to the closest wall and saw the quote, "Find what you love and let it kill you." Olivia was shocked.
"You hate Bukowski." Olivia said with fingers tracing the words.
"You love him, and I love you, this is your library, your space." She wrapped him in her arms once again this time pulling him over to the couch with him. He peeled off her shirt and caught her hands as they made their way past the band of his boxers,
"I'm not romantic, I'm as sentimental as you are." Her breath hitched at his words,
" The idea, you know, is that the sentimental person thinks things will last-the romantic person has a desperate confidence that they won't." She finished for him. The Fitzgerald quote was a point of contention between them, Fitz claiming it was sad, while Olivia found it beautiful.
"I finally get it you know, the quote," he said, "I finally get why you find it so beautiful, because its true is a hopeless kind of way, in the way that we work, knowing that it could all end tomorrow, but holding on desperately to the little things that matter. Holding onto books and memories with the same intensity we cling to each other." Olivia couldn't think of anything to say to his declaration, but it felt like a shift. Like she finally knew she couldn't survive running from him, and he finally knew she never would again.
"I love you, I'm in love with you." She said before finally pulling away his boxers and pulling him onto her.
They made love right there in the library of their house, both exhausted Fitz pulled a blanket on them and wrapped her up in his arms. They would see the rest of the house in the morning, but for now he was satisfied that she had seen most of the house. Tomorrow they would plan, tomorrow they would begin moving their belongings into their home, but tonight was all about them clinging to one another in the darkness, knowing that when they woke up they would be standing in the sun.